A fitting farewell for Janet Yellen

Singapore

JANET Yellen's farewell was a fitting one for the central banker - a modest rate hike and some straight talk.

It was the third increase of the year, and the fifth of the current rate hiking cycle. It was also one of Yellen's final acts as Federal Reserve chairwoman, with her four-year term due to end in February. During this time, she oversaw the Fed's reversal from the financial-crisis era's historically loose monetary policy to the current path of very gradual tightening.

It is credit to Ms Yellen's skill at communicating Fed policy that markets hardly flinched after what was likely her final hike, considering that the same event might have caused …